Courage
by Oteus
Summary: Maka is given a gift by a naive boy. Multi-chapter AU.
1. Once Upon a Time

_I._

* * *

The air was suffocating even at six o'clock in the morning when Maka Albarn forced herself out of bed. Her stomach sank and told her that she might have overslept- her brain was still in a stupor and told her, _go back to sleep, it's okay, it's alright_.

Light leaked in from the boarded window.

Maka swung her legs over the side of her bed and almost collapsed in the process. She slipped her right foot into one dirty, red shoe and tried to repeat the action with the other. Annoyingly, it only went partly in and it took a lot of stomping and writhing before her left foot could fit. She blinked, and a drop of liquid fell from her glassy eyes. One hand alone would be insufficient in rubbing out the lethargy.

Maka went straight from the attic to the kitchen, and when she saw that that it was already six-fifteen she decided right then and there to skip breakfast for the fifth day in a row. School started at seven and was seven kilometers away. There just wasn't enough time.

On her way out, Maka peeked into the small stable to see if Papa had yet to feed Caesar. She frowned. The Albarn family's horse was gone. But since Papa usually took the horse to the town in the mornings anyway, she didn't think of it much.

Maka closed the gate and locked it. The yard was infested by the scent of fresh paint; the heat and the smell combined produced a most glorious headache. Cicadas went _bshtt-bshtt_ while she headed down the path and for the next hour or so she was left only to the company of the _crunch-crunch_ of her shoes on the lightly-coloured gravel.

* * *

Maka's life began twelve years ago on the thirty-first of October when she was five years old and stupid. It was a Friday afternoon, the sun was setting, and little vampires and monsters alike were rising from their doorsteps, each a small candy-basket in hand. Maka was laughing with a group of girls and she laughed and laughed until her stomach started hurting. It wasn't until this kid named Sofia, who was chubby and awkward, raised her voice that things started turning for the worse. Twirling a lock of oily hair, she made a suggestion:

"Let's all play another game, why don't we?"

She flashed a harmless little smile too, that devil.

"And this time, there'll be a _dare _for the loser!"

Maka agreed immediately. Her cheeks were red and sore, and she was feeling so excitable then that she needed an outlet for her energy somewhere. Emira, the bossiest of the group, suggested that they would have a race, because she knew that she was the fastest of them all and was guaranteed to win. Most of the girls agreed enthusiastically, because they knew that while that they would not win, they were guaranteed not to lose. Sofia would lose, because Sofia was slow.

Maka was annoyed.

"That's not fair! If we make a game, it should be one where we all have an equal chance of winning!"

Emira smiled, revealing crooked teeth that matched well with her personality.

"Sorry, but it's a six-to-two vote. That means that you two have to do what we say."

The other girls nodded fervently. The dynamics in a group of five-year-old girls were similar to the dynamics you'd expect in a group of fifteen-year-old girls. Maka and Sofia ended up going along with the herd; and the race went on. As expected, Emira very easily won the competition. Maka was in second place, only seconds behind, and was greeted with a mocking shout of _nice try!_ as she crossed the finish. Sofia was last, of course.

"_Dare! Dare! Dare! Dare!"_ The girls shouted.

Sofia played with her hands nervously.

The group mustled together as much thinking power as five-year-olds could produce. The silence was broken when little Anya shouted out, "I know! Why don't we have her go in… _there?_"

She pointed her finger towards the fancy gate at the end of the street.

"_There?_" Maka asked. "Where is, _there?_"

Anya giggled, cupping her mouth like some little demon. "Didn't you know? There's a huge mansion down that path."

"R-really?" Tsubaki croaked. "But I've never seen anyone-"

It was now Emira's turn to laugh.

"That's because," she grinned. "They say that the son of _Death_ lives there."

* * *

_AN: All major Soul Eater characters will appear; OCs__ are delegated to minor roles only. Next chapter might be uploaded today, if I choose to continue procrastinating. As always, all critique is welcome._


	2. A Treat

_II._

* * *

Sofia shook like she had been summoned to the gallows. Maka grabbed her hand, squeezed tightly, and murmured an assurance that _everything would be alright_.

"If you force Sofia to go, then I will go too!"

Oh, what pride she had then!

"That's even better, actually," Emira squeezed the bridge of her nose. "This will be even more fun!"

Tsubaki smiled meekly and opened her mouth. Whatever she wanted to say she quickly swallowed down. Maka didn't know her very well back then, but knew her just well enough to give the girl a gentle smile to tell her that it was fine.

"We can do it Sofia! Don't you believe in me?"

Sofia's face said that she didn't.

* * *

The two girls descended down the stony pathway, leaving behind jeers and friendly assurances of their demise. They held hands the entire time and they looked very cute that way. After a couple minutes of walking, the mansion was still nowhere to be seen, and Maka decided instead to concentrate on the growing sore in her left foot. She stared at the ground and the colourful collages of red and orange that the wind helped produce. Through this way she became quickly lost in thought until Sofia had suddenly given a muffled shout. Her eyes reconnected with her brain, and Maka saw that she had failed to realize the leaves had evolved from their cheerful reds to less cheerful blacks.

She looked up.

The mansion had only now become visible. She took a step back. It was invisible again. A step foward. Bam! There it was.

Sofia released a fierce shout. And after she emptied her lungs of air, she unlocked her hands from Maka's and took off like a madwoman. Her sheer running speed could have made Emira jealous.

Maka gave a sigh, and turned back towards the gate. _So much for heroism_, she thought.

Something grabbed her ankle. It felt like the wind, wispy and cold. It was so cold.

Maka tried to scream, but all she could manage were a couple dry heaves. Droplets of spit escaped her mouth and landed on her chin. She sank her nails in the earth but she was much too weak in comparison to the apparition that had latched on to her. Her hands flew off the ground altogether with the rest of her body as she was hauled into the door, inside the darkness.

* * *

_"Wake up."_

_"Please?"_

_"Look, here. I will even light the candles for you."_

_"This is nicer, isn't it? You humans like the light, right?"_

_"..."_

_"That's perfectly fine. I will just wait."_

Maka opened her eyes a crack. The light was too bright for her to register.

"Hm… who is it?"

"Oh, you woke up. Finally," A light and pretty sound.

"You can call me Kid."

Green eyes snapped open. Her sleepy irritability was lost. She saw all sorts of colours in the blinding light before her vision finally focused to reveal a smattering of black and white stripes. And golden eyes.

She didn't try to talk anymore, so Kid did the talking for her.

"I don't think I've met a human before. This is quite interesting," He tilted his head. "I have introduced myself, as per your request, so now I would like for you to do the same."

The boy seemed harmless enough. He was strange, but he hadn't done anything more suspicious than Maka had. The girl believed that he should be trustworthy.

"You can call me… Maka."

She was suddenly ashamed of her inability to express herself as coherently. The boy was shorter in stature than she was, but he was much more eloquent. He was one of those precocious types.

He focused hard, and then smiled. "Maka… Albarn! Am I correct?"

"M-mhmm. How did-"

"I just know this sort of stuff," He was doing his best to seem impressive. "Isn't it neat?"

"I- yes-" The boy's eyes lit up, and he pulled on her wrist.

"Follow me! I'll show you around!"

* * *

Maka knocked on the door softly. Professor Sid was there to greet her.

"Ah, Maka. Class started half an hour ago."

"I know, sir."

"What took you so long? It isn't like you to be late."

She apologized and walked into the room. Black Star grinned at her. _Wow, Maka. You're sure going to be in for it later._

Sid would force her to stay late that day. That's the kind of man he was.

Maka took her seat. She looked at the date, scrawled into the classroom chalkboard.

_July 24._

* * *

They found themselves chatting (more specifically, she found Kid chatting) over cups of herbal tea. Maka was entranced. It was late and she should have headed back hours ago. But she didn't. Besides, she had never drank tea before, and would have liked to try it out. Mama told her that she was too little to drink it, but the boy's parents didn't seem to share those concerns. She should ask him where his parents are. She should ask him who he is. Did he tell her that already? She didn't remember. She should ask him how old he is. She should ask him what games he likes to play. She should ask him if he was good at running. She should ask him so many things, but she didn't.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot."

How could he forget anything? She looked down at her teacup, which possessed two curious handles; it was perfectly symmetrical. She was falling asleep.

"You originally came here to treat-or-treat, didn't you?"

_No, I didn't._ But Maka didn't say anything. She was falling asleep.

"I don't have any candy, so is it okay if I give you something else instead? It is infinitely more useful than any candy, I assure you."

She nodded her head.

He leaned over.

"Humans are technically not supposed to know these things," he shrugged. "But I'll tell you this anyways, as a symbol of our friendship."

She was falling asleep.

"Twelve years and nine months from now. July 25th. You'll be seventeen."

He sat back in his seat. Grinned.

"That is the day you will die."

Maka then closed her eyes, and went off to sleep.

* * *

_AN: So I ended up procrastinating after all. What a surprise._

_Just a note: When I said, 'OC', I was referring to the random non-canonical characters I've put in this story. None of them will be playing a major role, rest assured. _

_ (To be honest however, I never planned this story out and have no idea where I'm going to take it.)_

_Please provide critique whenever possible. I rarely write and have no idea what I'm doing._


	3. Maka and Soul

_III._

* * *

It was April 25th, and Maka woke up early for the first time that week. She breathed in. The air flowed easily. She got out of bed. Her shoes slid comfortably onto her feet.

She went into the kitchen- she had cleaned it last night. She set down a pan on the stove and began working, working, to fry the perfect egg. When she opened the fridge to get some milk, she found that the milk was spoiled, so she just shrugged and said, _whatever_, and threw it out.

The eggs she made ended up ugly. She forgot to grease the pan before adding them in so one side turned up black. By the time she finally scraped them on to her dish they had transformed into rubber. It didn't bother Maka much, and she asked herself why she had expected otherwise. She wasn't perfect, and so neither would her eggs.

She looked out the window. The gate was closed. Her Papa forgot to shut the gate without fail whenever he came home, so that means that Spirit hadn't come back yet.

She dumped her finished dishes into the sink and forgot to clean them. She supposed that she would go to school early that day.

Maka walked outside and stopped at the crossroads before her. She looked towards the right. There was a path there. She had been walking down that same path every week-day morning and afternoon for nine straight years. It didn't look much different from the way it did the last day or the last week or the last month or the last year. She frowned. It wasn't fun living in a land of perpetual summer. She needed some adventure, some excitement!

Maka Albarn took a left turn.

* * *

Wes Evans sometimes performed outside a small church in the middle of town. He always played late in the afternoon between six and eight o'clock. The ladies would all look at him while he climbed to the top of the stairs, and he would then wring out the most beautiful tears from the little violin that carried with him. He would play and play, and then he would cast his gaze to the sun during that perfect moment where it bordered the earth and the heavens, and you would follow your eyes there as well and you would exclaim, _oh, there must be a God after all!_

Wes Evans was much more efficient than any missionary could hope to be.

Sometimes Wes' brother Soul accompanied him to the town. Soul showed up for only two performances in total: the first was during Wes' debut; the second was forced on him when a kind lady named Mary or something found out that he was a musician too, and that he therefore should have the chance to perform as well. He showed up inside the church with black and red pinstripes and everyone was very excited to hear him play. Then he he started playing, and his music sounded so uncomfortable that Mary or something had to force him to stop once a baby started crying in the audience. As the attendants walked out of the church, an old man joked to Mary or something that, _oh, there must be a Devil after all!_

Soul Evans was much more efficient than any missionary could hope to be.

Wes Evans was preparing for another performance that afternoon. Soul Evans came with him on that day, and was hiding inside a small cabaret club called "Chupacabra's". This was because a cabaret club like "Chupacabra's" was the exact opposite of a church ran by a person named Mary, so he was sure that nobody would recognize him there.

The bell at the front door rang. In walked a young woman with sand-coloured pigtails. She turned her head this way and that and looked like she wanted to find somebody.

Soul stared at her. It was obvious she didn't belong there.

The woman strolled in and sat in a stool two seats away from him. She ordered water. Soul raised an eyebrow.

He opened his mouth. He tried to act cool.

"Hey."

The woman didn't look at him.

"...Were you looking for someone?"

The woman raised her glass and took a small sip. She shook her head a little.

"Not really," She glanced his way. "You should mind your own business."

"Eh, sorry. Just thought you needed help, that's all."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

_Tick, tick, tick._

"My name is Maka, Maka Albarn."

He wanted to ask her why she wanted to talk _now_, but he decided against it.

"The name's Soul."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

"You know," Soul spoke. "There's a thing going on soon outside. I think a lady like you would enjoy it."

"A thing…?"

"Yeah, a performance. I heard the guy's really good with the violin."

Maka shot him a suspicious look.

"So then, are you going?"

Soul leaned back in his chair.

"Nah, it's not my type of thing, ya'know?"

Maka sighed and got up. She headed towards the door.

"Thanks for the tip."

"Hmm."

Soul sat quietly for a long time. He then decided to head outside.

* * *

The violin was playing a warm, gentle, melody. He spotted Maka near the back of the crowd that had gathered in front of the church.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

She looked surprised for a second, but quickly smiled.

"Yeah, it sure is."

* * *

_AN: I think that was the most awkward chapter I've ever written, even per my standards._

_Tomorrow is Monday. I've been really down lately and I don't want to go school._

_Thanks for reading! Remember, critiques are always welcome._


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